Love At All Cost
by LovinEvil
Summary: After Hermione's fifth year, she's off to Venice for the vacation. But when she gets together with some old friends to bowl, she discovers to her great displeasure Draco Malfoy bowling with them! What will their encounter to their...relationship in Hogwar
1. Chapter 1

Written with the help of Leila, just because she has the manga.

**Copyright: **This story follows the plot of "L'Amour À Tout Prix", a manga written by Minami Kanan. So technically, nothing here belongs to me because Harry Potter and Inc belong to J.K. Rowling. Look at me wailing because I don't own Draco Malfoy's tight ass!

It was summer vacation! Where lovers meet in the park, families reunite, and schools end. Warm wind swept over the country, leaving rain and muck in the gutter. Smiling faces turned up to the sun to enjoy its warmth and bask in its rays. In a month school would start again, but now everybody forgot about their worries to in its place go outside.

-+-

Of course, England was a different matter al together. As per usual, the sun hid itself behind those great grey clouds to appear in another country. Countless faces looked up to the sky to plead silently for them to go away. One face in particular, turned up to the sky with those magnificent grey eyes. But they were now dulled, surrounded by black and blue bruises. His mop of messy black hair rested against his knees, his chin turned up slightly to look up at the sky. His skinny pale arms had encircled his knees and pulled himself even more to a ball to gather some heat from his own body. His lips were partially opened, his eyes looking far away before… He started screaming again with short bouts of maniacal laughter in between that made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Dull thumps resounded and the door flew open.

"Boy! What did I tell you about making a racket?"

-+-

Hermione Granger knew none of this. She was in Venice this year, soaking up the sun that energized even the laziest people. She was looking critically at her reflection as she added a touch of mascara to her brown eyelashes.

"It's time to go, honey!" a voice called out from the doorway of their hotel bathroom.

An older version of Hermione walked in, looking like a replica if she didn't have straight short hair and a taller build.

"I don't know why you bother with those group dates. You're a pretty girl, you don't need to go to some stupid group and go bowling of all things. Cancel and go with us to visit the churches…" she trailed off at the indignant stare that she got from her only daughter.

"Mum, we've already been here. I know a few people here and they organized a bowling event. Besides," she blushed and looked away from the mirror, "I'm not pretty. And even if I am, it doesn't matter. If I open my mouth I'll start spouting off facts..."

"What's so wrong with being intelligent?"

"Oh come on mum. No man likes to be outsmarted by a girl. It's the reason why guys walk the other way when they see me coming. It's why I don't have a boyfriend. It's why…" she trailed away and quickly turned away.

"Why what?" Hermione's mum grabbed hold of her chin and tilted it up. "Look at me, Hermione. Why what?"

"It's why my two best male friends won't even notice that I'm female. I've heard how they talk about me. A year ago I was a reserve for them, in case no one wanted to go out with them. And after they got turned down, then, THEN, they finally noticed I was a girl. DO you know how hard it is to be cool and sophisticated with them all the time? I've got to go!"

"Hermione, wait!" The sound of a door slamming answered her request.

---

Hermione angrily swept the tears away from her face. She had gotten over Ron Weasley, hadn't she? Burying herself in her studies hadn't deadened the feeling of disappointment, only made it greater.

'_Stop it! Stop it, you wimp. What are you going to do, mope about it? You're a woman. Get a grip.' _

Hermione used a tissue from her bag to clear her face up. '_Thank god for waterproof make-up.'_ Hermione had to stifle her laugh for that thought, but then though, '_Oh, what the hell!'_ and began laughing with great peals of laughter.

After a minute of two of undirected laughter, she felt good enough to go to the Blue Bowling, where the group was supposed to meet.

---

Hermione stepped into the badly lit bowling alley.

"Oy Hermione! Over here!" Sam yelled over the din of bowling pins being knocked down.

Hermione grinned at the thought of seeing Samuel Logerdoz again. It had been two summers ago when they had met. She had been walking when she bumped into him. As an apology he had invited her to go bowling with a few friends. Afterwards they wrote to each other and now, two years later, she stood before him again.

"Darling, where were you? We have a new addition to our group" He waved vaguely to the numerous shadowed chairs while they kissed three times. "But, first, let me take a good look at you." His eyes roved down and up her body. "Oh honey, nice tits. And those jeans make your ass so bubbly!" he smacked them playfully while Hermione sat down.

"Now now, Sam. I can say the same about you!" she smiled at his body. "Have you been working out again? I honestly don't know why, everyone already looks at you… Oh, I see, you want me to look bad, huh?" Hermione mock played angrily as she swatted his arm teasingly.

The silent spector watched their conversation with growing disbelief. Hermione Granger, giggling? Flirting? Not spouting out facts like a library? What was going on here? Suddenly, a question leaped out as they continued their conversation.

"…So Sam, how's your old boy doing?"

"Oh, I dumped him. I've got my eye on someone else."

"No, really? Who is it this time?" she asked with an exasperated sigh.

Sam nodded in the direction of the barkeeper. "See the hottie behind the counter? He's really shy, but look, He's so hot!"

No wonder. Sam was gay! He had suspicious when he had looked him up and down like a falcon searching out his prey, but he thought it had been out of suspicion, not…lust.

"So, Hermione, have you met our newest member yet? He's got the best technique. I know he could help you!"

"Oh come on, my technique's not that bad!" Hermione protested, but was overwhelmed by the according nods from around the table.

"So Draco, do you think you can help this helpless thing?"

---

Hermione stopped mid-laugh when she heard the word 'Draco'. Certainly not… She had to stifle a gasp as the mysterious man moved forward into the light. Pale blond hair was easily distinguishable, and his eyes lifted towards her. Grey eyes, with a tint of blue. And that smirk. Yup, it was Draco Malfoy.

**AN:** Ok, I'll need to tell you which parts are from L'Amour À Tout Prix. Hermione primping herself, that she goes to see a group date, and that somebody she hasn't seen for a long time suddenly shows up. Also the fact that the mysterious person is hot and that Hermione feels she has to hide her true self from others. What was not in the manga is the fact that Hermione's smart, Hermione's doesn't do karate (the girl did and that's what she was hiding) and that they first had dinner before bowling (which the girl did have). I know it's very confusing but I can't outright show you the book. Though you really should read it, if you can ever find it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** Not even the plot and certainly not Harry Potter and Co. belong to me. One belongs to Minami Kanan, and the other to J.K. Rowling. OoOoOo! I forgot; I do have a brand on Sam Logerdoz, that hot gay guy that he is. Drool

The hands before him were pale due to lack of sunlight. The blue and purple veins were easily distinguishable in the translucent skin. He looked up to the cracked mirror. The bruise had finally diminished to a yellow-brownish color. He stood up and watched fascinated as he took off his shirt. There was a bruise around his ribs, all of them sticking out painfully due to malnutrition. He poked them. It seemed as he was just watching himself poke. The pain was just a small pinch compared to what it actually was. He traced the mirror cracks, looking on as blood dripped from his finger. The pain… for the first time in numerous days, he felt alive. It might not have been the best feeling, but it was still something different from the monotonous depression. As if in a trance, he scraped off one of the many pieces from the carpet. Some people had a cuddly bear for comfort, he had pain. At least now he could pay for his sins.

-+-

"Malfoy?" Hermione incredulously asked. Draco Malfoy looked like a whole new person with his black jeans and his hair in messy locks that fell to the side of face. Now she knew what Lavender and Parvati meant when they said that Malfoy was hot.

'Don't judge a book by its cover, Hermione. It could be a glamour for all we know,' her inner self warned her.

She arranged her face in a pleasant smile and graciously said, "Draco Malfoy, huh? You seem oddly familiar. But tell me; is Sam right in telling me that you'll help me with my technique?"

Shock coursed through her body as she heard an equally smooth and cool voice respond, "Let's see how your technique is before correcting it."

And that's how Hermione ended up in Draco Malfoy's arms while he whispered seductively in her ear. Of course, he was actually showing her the correct movements while giving her some pointers, but to an outsider's view it certainly looked romantic.

Draco's arm slid over hers and her heartbeat fluttered faster. The feeling of being in someone's arms, even if it was her enemy, gave her a small comfort that made her lips dry. She licked off her lips as his body moved closer to hers and guided her arms to show her how to throw the ball. She didn't know why, but she dropped the ball in the gutter and then looked to Draco pathetically. He sighed and went to her again.

"Now, pay attention. The movements have to be like this," and once again his smooth pale arms held her while his body moved closer. He directed her arms and she once again leaned in to his embrace.

'It is actually quite pleasant,' Hermione found herself thinking as she knocked down 8 pins, an all time high for her.

Draco turned around to the other people of the group. "So who's up for a game of bowling?" Loud cheers greeted this request.

-+-

The ladies were invited to go first and so Draco rested in the sofa as he vaguely listened to the talking buzzing around him. One of the guys clapped a hand on his shoulder.

"Thanks for ridding us of Hermione."

"What do you mean?"

"It's not that she's not fun, but everyone knows that the only person that really wants her here is Sam." Draco looked around to see why Sam wasn't defending his friend. Oh yeah, the ladies went first to bowl, and that meant that he was bowling with them.

"Naah, she got a hot bod, but she just isn't our type of girl," someone else replied to the statement.

"And what is your type of girl then?" Draco asked vaguely while he stared at Hermione bowling. '_8 pins down, two to go,' _he noted as Hermione's ball blasted some pins away.

"You know the one I'm talking about… Those oblivious girls with the great bod… A doll to… play with. Hermione is definitely not that."

Draco listened to them drone on and on about their sex lives with irritation. He didn't exactly know why, but who were they to insult Her-Granger! That was his job. Besides, What was so wrong with being intelligent? Was sex all they could think about?

When the last girl was playing, one of them leaned over and asked, "Do you think you could occupy Hermione? We want to leave and have some real fun."

-+-

Hermione clapped with the rest of them as… Dania? got a strike. But a loud noise interrupted everyone's congratulations for Dania. Her hands automatically went to her mouth as she gasped. Dra-Malfoy was standing with his fist raised as he looked in anger at a guy with a bloody nose on the floor. He hissed something to him in to which he spat at in return. More guys began to advance towards him threateningly. She hurriedly went to Dra-Malfoy to make him stop.

"Malfoy!" His surname came out easier with her disgust. "What are you doing?"

"I'm protecting your honor, my fair lady," he replied cheekily.

A resounding slap echoed across the now silent bowling alley. "HOW DA-" Hermione broke off her tirade when she noticed that everyone was looking at her and softened her voice to a deadly (Snape-like) whisper. "How dare you be cheeky with me? Here you are suddenly with your smarmy smirk and your goddamn bowling technique and you embarrass me in front of my friends," she whispered furiously, her face close to his so that he could understand every vehemently hissed word.

"Is that your idea of friends? They were goddamn insulting you with every breath they had!" he whispered back.

"And why would you care? You do exactly the same thing!"

Draco noticed all the eyes on them and then roughly said, "Come on," before he pulled her by the arm to the toilets.

**AN:** Ok, here are the parts from L'Àmour À Tout Prix: the bowling, the guys that talk shitty about Hermione, Draco punching the guy that said all those nasty things, and them going to the toilet. I'm not too sure what happened in the toilet since I don't have the manga (I read it when I borrowed it) and I'm checking up on it now. Wish me luck, and remember, review!


	3. Chapter 3

**Love At All Cost**

**Disclaimer:** Not even the plot and certainly not Harry Potter and Co. belong to me. One belongs to Minami Kanan, and the other to J.K. Rowling. OoOoOo! I forgot; I do have a brand on Sam Logerdoz, that hot gay guy that he is. Drool

-+-

Chapter 3

Draco quickly pulled Hermione into the girls' toilet and locked the door after them.

"At least I have the balls to tell it to you face to face."

"Oh, that really satisfies me… that you can say it to me face to face. Wow, what was I thinking, I mean here you are, you can just say it to me now."

"And what are you doing here, playing the carefree muggle?"

"I could say the same to you, Mr. Oh-so-good-bowling-technique."

Draco slammed her hands over her head and on the tiled wall. "Oh are you willing to let people step all over you, making comments behind your back, acting like a fucking Patil, for gods sake, just to get in someone's pants? You don't mind if someone does something because you want it?" he asked incredulously.

Hermione turned away her head but almost gasped the next moment when she felt Draco's tongue sliding across her neck. Tears filled her eyes as she noticed her helpless disposition. Here she was with her arms pinned to the wall by Draco's firm ones, backed into a corner as Draco's tongue ran all over her ne-

Draco smirked as she gasped. That hollow little place under her ear was _very_ sensitive. He catalogued and stored that piece of information as he worked his tong upwards.

"I like the way you were," he whispered into her skin and then moved his mouth from her neck to her cheek. But when she moved her mouth to meet his he stepped back and looked with satisfaction at her flushed skin and quickened breath.

Hermione almost stepped forward. Already the fright was beginning to fade, leaving her with the (not so) unpleasant feeling of slightly wet panties. Her arms trembled as she put them down and massaged her wrists.

"See, I was right. You didn't even try to push me away," he sneered and walked out of the bathroom.

-+-

Hermione looked outside and saw the grey clouds of England once more. It was just her luck that the day she had returned home, it had been one of England's best days ever. And she had been too sleepy to notice. She was back home, cocooned and safe as she helped her Mum do one of the most boring things ever: cook. How she could be astounding in Potions yet not even make a soup without burning something was beyond her. Of course, she never thought to compare it to Potions, and so her skills remained at level 1.

Her mind wandered as she thought of the past few days. They had been hectic but to Hermione, they had seemed to stream together so that only one memory kept popping out. Draco Malfoy licking her neck, and whispering into her ear as he steadily pinned her arms above her head with his own slim yet muscular arms.

Hermione's knees still wobbled at the intimate encounter. She couldn't make up her mind. Her mind said it was wrong, that he was using her to get information about Harry. But her body and even her heart longed for him to touch her again. She had never felt such anticipation for anyone, not even Ron. When compared to Draco, she knew her crush on Ron was just that… a crush. It would disappear and it didn't matter anyway. Her logical mind could already see them fighting about the slightest detail if they dated.

You know how they say to be careful when handling a knife? It seemed Hermione needed a proper reminder because the next moment, she had cut her thumb with the knife that had been chopping the potatoes. She first looked as if it was a dream, but then the stinging started and she hurriedly got a napkin to halt the bleeding. She went outside to escape the kitchen. The air did good for her lungs, but the stinging worsened and she bit her lip not to cry out.

Why did everything have to happen to her? Did Draco kiss her to annoy her? To show he loved her? Hermione's thoughts kept rebounding back and forth in her head and her anger grew. But she didn't want Mum to know anything was amiss and just circled her backyard as the thoughts kept pounding in her head. It wasn't fair! Why did it have to be Draco, son of the pureblood elite and Death-Eater, Lucius? Why couldn't it be someone she knew? Ron, Harry, perhaps even Bill or Charlie? Why, gods why, did it have to her arch enemy, Draco sodding Malfoy?"

The air crackled with magic as she kept pacing back and forth and it was suddenly released, acting as a strong wind. It was a good thing that there was nothing that could be moved in her backyard. Except… Hermione watched with horror as the pole of the drying line was wrenched out of the ground and thrown in the air to the side street next to her house. "Of all the bloody things…" she muttered under her breath as she saw someone walking in the path of the falling object. "Watch out!" Hermione warned, but she hid her eyes behind her hands, not wanting to see any damage. The clang of the metal pole never came and so she peered out of her hands. The unlucky stranger had caught the pole and was now coming up from his crouched position.

Hermione rushed over. "I'm so sorry. Are you okay? Do you need help getting up? Here let me take that pole from you," Hermione rattled on in nervosa and in hopes that he hadn't seen any magic.

She quickly took the pole from his hands and planted it with a vicious shove back into the hole it had previously occupied. When she was done she felt free to take a good look at the stranger.

"I'm so sorry," she said again.

"It's okay," an amused voice said and when she peered into his face, she instantly sprung back and hid behind the pole.

"Malfoy! What are you doing here?"

"Well I was looking for you and got lost in the neighborhood. Suddenly a pole attacks me, and seeing you, I catch the poor thing so you don't have to buy a new fighting stick, how crude it may be."

Hermione sighed irritably. "If you must know, it isn't a fighting stick, as you so elegantly put it; it's a pole so that clothes can dry in the wind." She almost laughed at the slight blush that crept on to junior Malfoy's cheeks. "Well, you've seen me now, so go away." Hermione made shooing motions and returned inside.

Somehow, Hermione wasn't looking forward to Hogwarts as much as last year.

-+-

He remembered when he had been younger and had drawn on the wall with a red marker. Going up, going down. How beautiful it had seemed. It was just the same. Down the arm, up the arm. He rolled up his pants and looked at his painting from yesterday. How unearthly beautiful. It felt like he wasn't meant to watch something like this and he quickly slashed his masterpiece away. If he couldn't stop watching it, at least he could ruin it.


End file.
